Business Buzz Blog

Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Most organizations exist either to sell a product or service. Ultimately, they operate with the objective to make profit. For firms that operate in the same industry, competition is most often than not very stiff and to stay ahead of the pack, firms must employ well researched sales and marketing techniques. There are four major strategies of promotion. These are collectively known as the marketing or promotion mix. These methods cut across the board and could be employed even in promotional products for law firms.

Sales Promotion- This is also referred to as consumer promotion. It entails the usage of unique short to medium term techniques mostly in form of incentives to allure customers to respond to a certain call or activity. For example, in cash coupons with expiry dates, consumers are necessitated to act within the valid periods. Sales promotion is quite common in the retail industry. There are offers like ‘buy one, get one free’, free products, cash and quantity discounts or even refunds! This promotional effort is quite rewarding because of its measurability. In most cases, packaging a product as a test trial, which is established or is experiencing declining loyalty, can provide a chance to up-sell and extend the diminishing product’s life-cycle. This kind of marketing mix is a channel through which awards and recognition are extended to consumers for their brand loyalty.

Public Relations- This is a promotional mix also known as publicity. In this type, third-party sources and especially news media offer a good mention of the marketer’s product or company without direct transfer of payment to the publisher of the information. This method is effective during the introduction phase of a products life cycle.

Personal Selling- This involves direct contact between company agents or representatives and those who make purchase decisions. These could be consumers or even a tendering committee of a company.

Advertising- It basically involves making a specific public presentation thereby creating awareness about a product’s existence. It’s impersonal and normally dramatizes the products or services in a repetitive manner. Advertising is done through paid channels like the mass media and other sources like internet and e-mail.